Robotic simple prostatectomy is a safe and effective technique for benign prostatic hyperplasia: Our single center initial short-term follow-up results for 42 patients

Abstract

Objective: Benign prostatic hyperplasia is one of the biggest problems of aging men. Prostate surgery is now well defined in the case of failure of medical therapy. Robotic simple prostatectomy is a minimally invasive surgical method with an alternative to open simple prostatectomy in large prostate volumes. We present our simple prostatectomy technique with robot, perioperative, and short-term functional result in our clinic.

Material and methods: Between January 2017 and January 2021, 42 patients underwent simple robotic prostatectomy were retrospectively evaluated. Preoperative, perioperative, and post-operative clinical data were analyzed. Post-operative continence status, voiding, and erectile functions were evaluated using uroflowmetry and international prostate symptom score (IPSS) at sixth week and third month.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 71 (66–78) years. No major complications were observed in any of the patients. Urethral catheters were removed on the fourth post-operative day. Except for one case, all of the cases urinated spontaneously after the catheter was removed. One case could not urinate spontaneously, and urethral catheter was placed again. Three days later, the urethral catheter was removed, and patient urinated spontaneously. None of the patients reported stress urinary incontinence or erectile dysfunction. The mean operative time was 112minutes, the mean hospital stay was 1.6 days, the mean post-operative IPSS was 6, and the mean post-operative Q max was 24.4mL s?1.

Conclusion: Robotic simple prostatectomy may be an effective and safe alternative minimally invasive technique in the treatment of large-volume benign prostatic hyperplasia.